Magnus Carlsen: Are the Glory Days over?

As some of you may know, the World Blitz Chess Championships in Berlin were last week, in which Magnus Carlsen failed to defend his title, making way for Russian Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk to take the throne. In what was a rough day for the World Chess Champion, he further proved that he is mortal:

Courtesy:NRK Sport

While Magnus is considered to be one of chess history’s best players, he definitely has been sliding this year. The FIDE Grand Chess Tour proved to be the beginning of his unwinding, first in his home country, Norway Chess, and then again in St. Louis at the Sinquefield Cup. Even with his 14/21 score at the World Blitz Championships, Carlsen was a full 1.5 points behind Alexander Grischuk, finishing 6th and falling from 1st to 2nd in the world blitz standings. With only a few months to go before the Candidates Tournament in March, Magnus’ time to get out his slump is limited, and the London Chess Classic, the last leg of the Grand Prix, will be a big indicator as to his progression.